Treatment of staple fiber and apparatus therefor



Dec. 22, 1942. H. -TEGETMEYER ETAL I I 2,

TREATMENT OF STAPLE FIBER AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed March a, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 D811- 1 i-l. TEGETMEYER arm. 2,306,144

TREATMENT OF STAPLE FIBER AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed March I5. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 22, 1942 TREATMENT OF STAPLE FIBER AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Hans Tcgetmeyer, Grebben-on-the-Bhlne, and

Alfred Maxton and Walter Arnold, Rhineland, Germany;

erty Custodian Heinsberr,

vested in the Allen Prop- Application March 3, 1939, Serial No. 259,518 .In Germany March 5, 1938 (Cl. 18-8) v Claims.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of thread of artificial origin but more specifically 'hasfor its object to provide a novel method and apparatus for the manufacture of staple fiber.

The manufacture of staple fiber yarn difiers to a considerable extent from the manufacture of continuous length filaments.- This difference exists to a marked degree particularly in the acidificationand washing steps of the process. In the acidification and washing steps gases and other vapors are evolved in great amounts resulting in problems which are not present in tlon to devise a novel process and apparatus for the after-treatment and washing of freshly spun and cut staple fiber. I

Another object of the present invention is to devise a novel process and apparatus whereby the freshly spun and cut staple fiber may receive uniform treatment and whereby the washing and after-treatment may be expeditiously carried out.

These and other objects will in part become obvious and will in part be pointed out in the following specification when taken in conjunction with the appended claimsand the attached drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinalsection of a treating apparatus which may be used in carrying out the process of the'present invention, v

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of a portion of the parts shown in Figure 1, being shown in section,

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of a modification of a conveying device which maybe used in the efit end of the .treating apparatus .for carrying off the'treated staple fiber from the treating apparatus. I

In the drawings in which, like numerals of reference indicate like parts i refers to the enddisulphide which escape during the washing salts of acids such as carbonic or sulphurous acid which are freed in the acidification process and the gases resulting, particularly. with respect to sulphurous acid, must be collected and'reclaimed. It is usually both desirable and necessary to have the acidification of the staple fiber occur simultaneously and uniformly throughout the entire fiber-mass. In baths conventionally used a buoyancy is imparted to the fibers owing to the gases evolving from the fibers, so that a portion of the fibers will be forced to float on the surface of the bath. This portion of the fibers will not be subjected to the action of the liquid medium to the same extent as that portion of the staple fibers which is immersed in the bath. This results in large amount of staple fiber not being treated at all or being subjected to th action of the bath after undue delay.

less conveyor belt for feeding the freshly spun fibers, which have already been cut to the desired staplelengths, to the treating apparatus.

The freshly spun staple lengths are fed by the conveyor into an enclosed semi-circular trough 2 in which is rotating a bladed wheel 3. bladed wheel 3 has blades 5 which angle outwardly from the hub and backwardly relative to the direction of rotation of the said wheel. Ad-' jacent the point where the staple fiber is fed to the trough 2 is positioned a feeder conduit 5 so that treating liquid isfed to the trough 2 simultaneously with the feeding of the staple of the treating liquid whereby the said fibers are brought intointimate contact with the saidliquid.

As the bladed wheel 3 rotates the liquid andstaple fiber caught in the spaces between the a blades are forced over the overfiow point 6 and It is therefore-an object ofthe present invenmass as it accumulates in. the trough I is picked The -be.seen from an inspection of Figure 1 of up by the perforated endless conveyor belt s and carried from .the wet-treatment apparatus.

The bladed wheel 2 with its blades l is designed to rotate in the trough 2 with a minimum-oi clearance from the sides thereof. The spacing between the blades is further limited at the sides by reason of side plates II and and the hub of the bladed wheel rotates with so little clearance between the .sides l2 and II of the treating apparatus that large quantities of the treating in liquid from the feeder' duct i do not directly reach the cascade I or trough 2.

By reason of the sealing blades I and the side plates II and II liquid and staple fiber between the blades 4 are raised by the vacuum caused thereby above the level I! of the liquid in the. trough 2, asshown at M on Figure 1 of the drawings, whereby both fibers and liquid are forced over the overflow point 6 down into the cascade 1 as the blade wheel 3 rotates or directly into an the basin 8 if itis desired to eliminate the cascade I. In this manner it is obvious that the entire staple fiber mass and treating liquid is thoroughly mixed and that uniform treating action will take place during the time the fibers and treating 5 liquid are restrained between the blades 4 of the bladed wheel 3. Inorder to obtain an undisturbed discharge of the fibers and treating liquid from the blade chamber it has been. found more advantageous to design the slide surface of the overflow i with an inclination which coincides to the angle of the blade at the moment the latter passes the overflow point 8 or at the moment of discharge.

The bladed wheel 2, cascade I and trough I are 5 covered by a casing II in order to prevent the gases and vapors evolved from escaping. and so 7 that the said gases and vapors may be collected and drawn off through a pipe l2. Because the blades 4 have sealing blades mounted on the end thereof a tight joint is formed against the casing preventing escape of the gases and vapors except through connecting pipes |l'- and ll which lead oi! the said gases and vapors to.

- the exhaust pipe II from which they are drawn off and collected.

The use of the cascade arrangement prior to the filaments and treating liquid being passed to the trough 8, assists in releasing the gases from the staple fiber so that a more through puriflca-, tion of the fibers is obtained.

Extending into the discharge end of the trough l is a perforated conveyor belt 9 arranged for taking up the staple fiber mass and carryin it from the treating apparatus. Operating in conjunction with the conveyor belt 9 and positioned adjacent the discharge opening of the trough I are pressure rollers l9 between which passes the conveyor belt 9 carrying the fiber mass. It will drawings that through the rollers I, which act as pressure rollers for the elimination of excess liquid from the fibers, and the liquid level in the trough 8 a fairly close sealing arrangement results whereby very small amounts of the 885 s and vapors escape and that very little of the outside air is drawn in. As the conveyor. belt 2 with its fiber mass carried thereon passes from the treating apparatus a spray nozzle 22 is supplied forafurther washing of the material. In their further passage on the conveyor belt I the fibers and the conveyor belt pass between a second set of pressure rollers 2| for the purpose of eliminating the excess washwater sprayed'on the said fibers from the nozzle 20. The

the 30' I excess washing liquid as it is extracted 1mm the fibers by the pressure rollers 2| is caught in a. trough 22 and drawn oil by means of va'lves22 and 24 or the said washing liquid may be returned entirely or partly back to the spray nozzle 20 by means of a pump 25. A valve 2! enables the operator to supply fresh treating liquid or wash water to the spray nozzle 20.

Operatively mounted with respect to the bladed wheel 3 is a spray nozzle 21 which may be utilized to supply the empty blade chamber with fresh treating liquid whereby the freshlyspun staple fiber coming from the conveyor belt I may fall into a blade chamber which has been supplied with fresh treating liquid.

In Figure 3 of the drawings isshown a modified arrangement which may be used to remove the treated staple fiber mass from the treating apparatus. In this form of the device the perforated conveyor belt 2 does not extend into the trough 2 but is'positioned to pass along the bottom of the discharge end of the trough 8 and in close proximity thereto whereby as the liquid and fibers in the trough 2 flow over the edge 28 of the said trough they are picked up and carried therefrom.

The continuous overflow from the trough 8 over the edge 28 causes the flber rnasstp fiow thereover and-be deposited on th'e'conveyor belt 9 to form a continuous and uniform fleece;

The belt 9 and fleece positioned thereon pass .through pressure rollers- 29 whereby the excess treating liquid is removed.' A trough 30 is positioned below the conveyor belt and rollers 29 and edge 28 of the trough 8 in order to collect the treating liquid squeezed from the fibers and overflowing from the said trough. Between the pressure rollers 29 and a second pair of pressure rollers 3| the fleece or fiber mass is sprinkled with water from the spray nozzle 2| in order to wash them. The excess water from the spray nozzle 20 and the water pressed from the fiber mass between rollers 3| is caught in a trough 32 and carried off in any suitable manner.

After passage of the flber mass through the pressure rollers 3| the said fibers are dropped onto a second conveyor belt 33 which may be perforated and then carried oil? for any further treatment steps considered necessary. Those versed in this art will appreciate that such further after-treatment steps may comprise washing, desulphurizing, bleaching or drying, as may be necessary to give the freshly spun fibers desired characteristics. In this form of the invention the casing covers both sets of pressure .rollers and escaping gases may be drawn oil through the outlet pipe l8 and collected after passage through a liquid spray coming from the spray nozzle 20.

.While the invention has been described with respect to the particular process and apparatus shown it is obvious that the process may be practiced by other means and that changes in the details of the media described may be made. Thus, for example, freshly spun, completely decomposed and cut staple fibers may be introduced into the treating apparatus. These fibers contain besides salts and acids considerable amounts of carbon disulphide and by treatment with hot water the carbon disulphide may be readily re-' moved and discharged through the pipe I8 while the acid may be either in part or practically completely removed on the perforated conveyor belt and spraying device shown.

It is also possible to introduce into the treating apparatus freshly spun, precipitated. but undecomposed staple fibers such as those that have been spun from sodium bisulpli ite baths. Fibers in such a state may then be first decomposed by means of diluted sulphuric acid and the sulphur dioxide together with the carbon disulfide evolved during this step may be readily removed through the pipe I8; while on the following perforated conveyor belt the fibrous material which by then has been completely decom- 1 posed may lie washed and after-treated.

As many apparently widely difi'erent embodiments of this invention maybe made without departing from the spirit thereof it is to be understood that it is not intended to limit the l invention to the specific embodiments thereof except as indicated in the appended claims.

What we claim is: V

1. Apparatus for use in the wet treatment of staple fibers comprising, a substantially closed I a trough formed in the closed container to re- 3 ceive the fibers and treating solution delivered from said bladed wheel, conduits through which the gases evolved from the treatment of the said fibers are drawn of, and means to convey said fibers from said trough to the outside of said container. 7

2. Apparatus for use in the wet treatment of staple fiberscomprising, a substantially closed container, a trough formed adjacent the entrance end of said container, 2, bladed wheel rotatably mounted in said trough, sealing blades mounted at the outer ends of, the blades of said wheel and contacting the bottom of the trough as the wheel rotates therein, said sealing blades also contacting the top of said container at its entrance end, means tosupply a treating solution to the fibers fed to said bladed wheel, means defining a cascade to receive the fibers and treating solution after their forced passage through said trough, a second trough formed in said container to receive the fibers and treating solution as they pass down said cascade, means to remove said fibers from saidlast mentioned trough and to convey the same to the outside of 5 said container, and conduits through which the v 3. In the treatment of staple fibers, the method which comprises continuously introducing freshly spun, cut staple fibers containing obnoxious, volatile constituents into an aqueous treating liquid, moving successively introduced groups of fibers below the surface level of said treating liquid, into and through a zone thereof lacking a liquid-gas interface, thereafter passing said successsive groups of fibers through a zone thereof having a liquid-gas interface in which the gas pressure is below atmospheric to promote volatilization of obnoxious constituents, continuously removing successive groups of treated fibers from said last named zone and separately recovering the volatilized constituents. 4. In the treatment of staple fibers, the method which comprises continuously introducing freshly spun, cut viscose staple fibers containing obnoxious, volatile constituents into water, moving successively introduced groups of fibers below the surface level of said water, into and through a zone thereof lacking a water-gas interface, thereafter passing said successive groups of fibers through a zone thereof having a watergas interface in which the gas pressure is below atmospheric to promote volatilization of obnoxious constituents, continuously removing succes- 0 sive groups of treated fibers from said last named zone and separately recovering the volatiiized constituents.

5. In the treatment of staple fibers, the methad which comprises continuously introducing 35 freshly spun, out viscose staple fibers containing contaminations comprising carbon bisulphide and sodium sulphite into sulphuric acid, moving successively introduced groups of fibers below the surface level of said sulphuric acid into and through a zone thereof lacking an acid-gas interface to form sulphur dioxide by chemical interaction of said sodium sulphite and saidsulphuric acid, thereafter passing said successive gra ns of fibers through arone thereof having an acid-gas interface in which the gas pressure is below atmospheric to promote volatilization of obnoxious constituents, continuously removing successive groups of treated fibers from said'last named zone, and separately recovering the sulphur dioxide and carbon bisulphide. removed from the said fibers.

HANS TEG.

' MAKTON. WALTER ARNOLD. 

